Manuscripts
Simon R. Frank Civil War diary
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Ira W. Baker pocket diary
Manuscripts
Diary of a Civil War soldier serving in the 75th Regiment, Illinois Infantry; also present is a certificate of record for Ira W. Baker, 1914 April.
mssHM 46348
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Charles Lee Civil War diary
Manuscripts
Diary that Charles Lee kept from January 1 to November 10, 1864. In addition to camp life and multiple vows to lay off whiskey, the diary covers visits to the regiment by Ulysses S. Grant and Joshua Thomas Owen, and gives brief accounts of the battles at Morton's Ford (1864, Feb. 6 - 7), Po River, (May 10, 1864), and the Petersburg campaign, including Jerusalem Plank Road (June 22 - 23), Strawberry Plains (Aug. 14), Ream''s Station (Aug. 25), Weldon Railroad (Aug. 25), and Fort Sedgwick (Oct. 27) and describes Finley hospital which Lee described as "a singular place" with the "Band playing at one End of the Ward outside and the Doctors performing an operation at the other."
mssHM 30476
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Diaries and correspondence
Manuscripts
The Civil War diaries and correspondence of Edward E. Schweitzer. Five pocket diaries cover Schweitzer's military service from September 1861 through August 1865. The entries record movement of the troops, war news, minutia of camp life, etc. There are also three letters from Schweitzer to his family posted from Virginia, Louisiana, and Georgia. Also included are his military records including appointments, certificates of discharge, and a muster-out roll of Co. I of the 30th Ohio. The post-war portion includes Schweitzer's diaries for the years 1869, 1884, and 1885, correspondence related to his effort to obtain disability compensation in 1882, and materials reflecting his membership in the veterans' association of the 30th Ohio Infantry. His letter to Jeannie Anderson of March 24, 1870, describes his stay at a sanatorium in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, including staff, patients, etc. Also included is a diary kept by Jennie Anderson in 1867. The collection contains many publications including issues of the Pennsylvania Inquirer (1865 May 25), the Daily News (Petersburg, Virginia, 1865 May 9), Windsor Currier (Windsor, Missouri, 1871-1872) and Newcomerstown Visitor (Newcomerstown, Ohio, 1871). Also included are copies of several books and pamphlets including The old battle fields revisited after 16 years! : a horseback ride from Chattanooga to Atlanta by C.O. Brown (Sandusky, Ohio : Register Printing House, 1880), History of the Thirtieth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry: from its organization, to the fall of Vicksburg, Miss. by Lieut. Henry R. Brinkerhoff, Thirtieth Ohio (Columbus, O. James W. Osgood, printer, 1863), and printed rosters of the 1888 and 1890 reunions of the 30th Regiment. The collection also includes Civil War memorabilia and photographs.
mssHM 66500-66519
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Frank McGregor Papers
Manuscripts
This collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, and ephemera of Frank McGregor. The Correspondence series is arranged chronologically and contains letters from Frank to his family members, most notably his sisters and to Susan, about his experiences during the Civil War. Also included in the series are letters from Frank and Susan to their children when they traveled around Europe in 1892 visiting such cities as Rome, Glasgow, Oban, Dingwall, Edinburgh, London, Brussels, Berlin, Vienna, Venice, Florence, Naples, Interlacken, and Paris. There are also letters from their children, most notably their daughters Bertha, Grace, and Olive, as they traveled around the United States. The Manuscripts series is arranged alphabetically and contains a typed collection of letters written by Frank McGregor titled "Letters to the Folks at Home from Frank McGregor of the 83rd Regiment O.V.I. Army of the Mississippi." The letters date from 1862-1865 and span McGregor's time in the Civil War. Also included, is a short composition written by Susan B. McGregor recalling details about a story her mother, Olive W. Wilder liked to tell about going to a ball. The Ephemera series is arranged alphabetically and contains such items as a photocopy of images of Frank and Susan, pamphlets from the annual reunion of the survivors of the 83rd Ohio Voluntary Infantry, a copy of a questionnaire about Frank's military service, biographical information about Frank McGregor, a copy of a newspaper dated September 22, 1864, and a copy of the book Dearest Susie: A Civil War infantryman's letters to his sweetheart (1971) which is signed by the book's editor, Carl E. Hatch. The Oversize Folder contains two sepia photographs: one is a headshot of Frank McGregor and the other is what appears to be the 83rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
mssHM 72510-72606
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Henry Breidenthal Civil War diary
Manuscripts
Breidenthal's diary that covers the month from October 10 to November 12, 1861, when the 3rd Regiment was attached to Reynolds's command at Cheat Mountain, W. Va. Breidethal, being and a devout Christian and possessing of an indomitable if somewhat morose personality, set to out devote his spare time to writing a diary in large part to avoid "the society here" that he found was "not congenial to my tastes." (He dismissed "the general character of our soldiery" as "lowbred" and their aspirations "rising but little above the instinct of the animal creature.") The daily entry contain detailed expositions on his Bible reading, including political implications of the Scripture, (Breidenthal was a passionate abolitionist who counted "our complicity with African Slavery -- a crime of sufficient enormity to sink this great nation" as one of the great sins and regarded "Bible defenders of the American slavery" as "false prophets"); his opinions on the books he was reading (he studiously avoided "trashy novels" and "obscene books," preferring sermons by Henry Ward Beecher, a biography of Cavour, or a "Life of Balaam, by Rev. Hatfield"); political news, including discussion of Fremont's proclamation of Aug. 30, 1861; and camp life, especially entertainment (of which he heartily disapproved, being particularly troubled by the widespread gambling, "not edifying conversation and vulgar songs" as well as dancing and smoking); regimental gossip and jockeying for promotions. He also recounts, in great detail, the inquiry into the death of a soldier killed by a sentinel too scared to give the required challenge.
mssHM 68485-68486
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Diaries
Manuscripts
In the letters to his wife, John B. Burrud, shared his war experiences, political views, religious sentiments, and intense longing for his home and family. The letters, many written over two or three days, cover the regiment's organization in Auburn, New York in September 1862; training in New York City; the voyage to Louisiana; the 1863 campaigns in Louisiana and duty at Morgan City, Bayou Boeuf, and Pattersonville; Burrud's month-long stay in St. James Hospital in New Orleans; the Red River and the Shenandoah Valley Campaigns of 1864, including the battles of Pleasant Hill (April 9), the third Winchester (September 19), Fisher's Hill (September 22-23), and Cedar Creek (October 19); duty at Middletown and Winchester, Virginia (1864 October27-1865, April), and Washington, D.C. (1865 April-June); the Grand Review (1865 May 23-25); and duty at Savannah and Hawkinsville, Georgia (1865 June-November). In addition to the detailed accounts of the campaigns and battles and discussion of the commanding officers (Weitzel, Banks, Grant, Sheridan, and others), Burrud's letters contain descriptions of Louisiana, Virginia, Maryland, and Georgia countryside, especially historical sites (e.g. the remains of the Jamestown church; the place of John Brown's execution; Blakely, a farm near Charles Town, West Virginia that belonged to George Washington's family, museums, public building, and gardens of Washington, D.C., or a Creek Indian mounds in Pulaski County), and natural wonders and various species of wildlife. He also reports, often in elaborate detail, encounters with residents, particularly enslaved people, contrabands, and women ("Yaller Gals"), who flocked to the Union lines as well as members of freedmen's aid associations and Union sympathizers. Burrud shares his thoughts on a wide range of subjects: slavery ("most damnable man degrading, soul killing, God dishonoring Institution that ever was permitted to exist on the face of the earth"); the Union cause ("the good of Mankind and the world and the Maintenance of the best and the Only true form of Government of the face of the Earth"); the Confederate government ("Jeff Davis's Empire"); Copperheads ("Political Miscreants"), African American soldiers whom he considered superior to white soldiers from "9 month regiments" and substitutes; guerrilla warfare, and race relations. He also at length discusses personal concerns and troubles of "the Boys" in his company, including an outbreak of sexually transmitted diseases and an alarming rate of marital infidelity that seems to have affected most of soldiers' wives of Wayne County; the role of women in the war effort; news from home (including his profound disappointment in the lack of patriotism and respect for the Union uniform on the part of the people of his hometown); war and political news; recruiting and draft; home front, religious revival in Marion; etc. Burrud, a staunch Republican, avidly followed political news, especially the New York state elections of 1863 and the 1864 elections. The letters also contain news from the 111th Regiment of New York Infantry where his brother William G. Burrud and his brother-in-law, Joseph Newton served as privates. An accomplished musician, Burrud also at length discusses music and army bands. Three pocket diaries cover the years of 1863, 1864, and 1865; the entries contain accounts of campaign and battles, duties, detachments, and details; and war and political news.
mssHM 75115-75334